Two weeks into the Race I was sitting at a restaurant with a cheeseburger on my plate. It seemed like a dream come true after fourteen days of rice and beans, except I was so nauseated and in extreme pain from the little parasite that decided to take up residency in my body.
I was mentally and physically tired as I sat at the lunch table and then I saw this man with a decadent chocolate cake walk by and set it down in front of his young son.
I’d like to say I wasn’t jealous. The truth; I had turned twenty-five a few days before and the one thing I had wanted was chocolate cake. Even with the stomach pain I silently said this prayer;
“Lord this thing you called me to (the World Race) is a bit harder of an adjustment than I planned and a piece of that chocolate cake would be just what my soul needs to be refreshed.”
Thank goodness He is so patient, especially when I’m at my worst. Not two minutes later something miraculous happened.
A nine year old brought a plate of chocolate cake over to my table and without a word shared his birthday cake with a sick American girl who is adjusting to a strange life.
This is what I wrote in my journal that night as a prayer to God;
“And mostly thank you for the chocolate cake. It seems silly but you see me and gave me an awesome simple gift through a nine year old who slipped a plate of his birthday cake onto our table at lunch, for ‘no reason’ at all.”
God is so good to me even in the middle of a self-pity moment. In that moment He was saying; “I see you. This road you’re on is tough but I am here with you through every moment. Nothing is too simple or silly for me.”
Even a request for chocolate cake!
